Size Splits for a Bulk Denim Jackets Order
By The Velocity Wear Team
Sizes inside a fifty-piece denim order can be split however you like, and the allocation is worth more thought than most buyers give it. Weight the middle of the range and keep the extremes light unless you have collected real sizes. Denim fits closer through the shoulder than jersey, so the size that fits a hoodie wearer is not automatically the size that fits them in a jacket.
What does a workable fifty-piece split look like?
For a general order with no size data, something in the region of four small, twelve medium, sixteen large, twelve extra large and six double extra large is a defensible starting point. It puts two thirds of the run in the sizes most bodies land in and keeps the tails small enough that unclaimed stock is manageable. If you have actual sizes from your team or your buyers, use those instead and treat this only as the fallback. The allocation is locked at artwork approval because the cutting plan is built from it, and the minimum rules behind that are explained in our minimum order guide. The garment measurements themselves are on the denim jackets page.
Why does denim sizing behave differently?
Because the fabric does not give. A jersey hoodie accommodates a body that sits between two sizes; a cotton denim does not, and the shoulder seam is where that shows. A jacket one size too small does not read as fitted, it reads as wrong, and the wearer cannot raise their arms. There is a second factor specific to jackets: what goes underneath. A jacket worn over a shirt and a jumper needs room a jacket worn over a tee does not. Tell your wearers which they are sizing for, because half of them will assume the other one.
How do you gather sizes before you order?
Ask once, in writing, with a measurement chart rather than size letters alone. Chest measurement in centimetres removes the argument about whether a large means the same thing here as it does on the high street. Set a deadline and treat non-responses as the middle size rather than chasing forever. For a staff order, collect during onboarding or at a team meeting where people are in the room. For a pre-order, put the size field in the payment form so nobody can pay without answering it. The general principles behind size runs and the returns they cause are in our sizing and fit guide.
What do you do with pieces nobody claims?
Plan for them at the point of ordering rather than discovering them afterwards. Spare jackets in the middle sizes are useful: a new starter gets kitted out immediately, and a damaged jacket is replaced from stock instead of waiting on a repeat run. Spares at the extreme ends are not useful, which is why the tails stay light. If you are running a pre-order, order a small buffer above the paid quantity in the middle sizes and sell it through the following term or season. What you should not do is round every size up to make the numbers neat, because that is how fifty becomes seventy with twenty sitting in a cupboard.
Watch out for people ordering on somebody else behalf. A manager submitting sizes for a team of twenty will guess on at least three of them, and those guesses skew large, because nobody wants to be the person who ordered a colleague a jacket that does not fit. Ask each wearer directly wherever that is possible. Where it is not, weight those particular pieces towards the middle of the range rather than the top. Quantity positions for the order itself are on the pricing page. A guessed size costs the same as a measured one, and only one of them gets worn.
